I'll back up a tad here. I first learned to drive when I was about 10. I admit, I wasn't really driving the car, I was sitting in the center front seat and steering the car down the interstate while my devoted mother helped me stay in the lines. Mother and I spent many hours driving the interstate going from clinic to clinic always looking for something to make my life just a little less painful. While the miracle cure search didn't pan out very well, the experience I got on the road was a real asset. I not only learned to steer, I also learned the road signs, navigation, and how to read a map. We got lost a lot.

Aside from all the important things I learned I focused mostly on the fact it was fun to drive. To be on the road, free to go where I pleased. Oh yes, this was something I was going to do.

I did all of the normal "learning to drive" things. My mother would take me to empty parking lots so I could get a feel for the car just before I started drivers ed. I admit things would have been easier if the drivers ed. Teacher would have let me drive my mothers car but that wasn't an option. Luckily a few pillows were all that was required to allow my short self to peer over the steering wheel. I was a cute kid you know.

I passed the written and driving tests with ease and was on my way to total freedom, until I needed to apply for my actual license.

Wouldn't you just know it, the one mean person in the whole DOT office was working the day I walked in. She took one look at me and said there was no way I could drive a car. I was so mad, offended, and hurt. This one lady who must have been having a bad day was the single factor that kept me from my goals. She was a very obstinate factor as well.

I went to my doctors; they were kind enough to write letters to certify I could in fact drive. My entire family went back to the DOT for added support; she gave us the run around again. Finally after phone calls from my doctors and threats of getting a lawyer involved she relented but only if I would drive with her once. No pressure there. Laugh.

I did pass her test and she was upset that I did pass, I could tell. She allowed my license to be processed. Finally I was a driver!

To continue my saga of torrment I must add that every time I am due back to renew my license, I am again forced to drive with a DOT worker. This wouldn't be so bad if it didn't happen every single time. It's not like I total a car a week. Heck my driving record is clean and they can check that fact easily.

While driving with the DOT personel is bad enough I have also learned I am automatically docked 8 points before I leave the parking spot because I can't turn my head to check behind me. If I were to turn my head my neck would have to break, it's fused in a few places, caused by the JRA. I have explained this fact on several occations but "we are required to follow these rules". If this happens again I am going to seek legal action for their descrimination of my fused neck.

To solve this problem I have even showed the DOT workers my special LaneChanger Mirror, which is affixed, to my rearview mirror. I swear this mirror is the best invention since the automobile. It allows me to see almost a full 360 degrees around the sides and back of my van. It helps to remove all blind spots, which is extremely helpful if you can't turn your head. I really don't know why all cars don't have these. Even my family enjoys the mirrors and they are all healthy normal people.

You really would think that the DOT workers would acknowledge my adaptation and not dock me the 8 points for not wanting to break my neck, but no, they don't. I am due back for another renewal in 2003, this time I'm going in with extra support and if they refuse to renew me until I drive with a DOT worker then I just may seek legal action. This will be the third time in a row; we'll see what happens. I may be adding more to this story in the near future so check back.

Update: My license renewal in 2003 went smoothly, no problems or questions ask. This is the first time the process has gone so well. In late 2004, I moved to the state of Arizona and in early 2005 I had to once again brave the people at the DOT. Being that I had just moved in from out of state and that I am disabled I fully expected I’d be put through the mill. I even picked up a copy of the drivers manual and studied just in case they wanted me to take the whole written test over again.

Thankfully they didn’t give me any trouble at all. After a slight hassle with needing my birth certificate to prove that I was indeed born the USA, and after standing in line for a very long time, I was given my AZ drivers license. In Iowa you had to return every 4-5 years to get the license renewed. Here in AZ it’s every 40 years. So I’ll probably be dead by the time I have to set foot back in the DOT Yippieee!!